Diferenciación morfológica y molecular en el complejo Rhodymenia corallina (Rhodymeniaceae, Rhodophyta) de Perú central

摘要

Seven species of Rhodymenia have been recorded for the coast of Peru, where six of them grow on the central coast: R.corallina, R. howeana, R. multdigitata, R. ?abellifolia, R. skotsbergii and R. californica. The most controversial taxonomically is R.corallina, from which R. howeana and R. multdigitata have been separated, only on the basis of external morphological characters(stpe form and frond habit). Recent and intensive collectons of this species complex in the central coast of Peru (9°S to 15°S) haveallowed gathering several morphotypes, evidencing high morphological variability, which makes difcult to di?erentate each of thetaxa involved. The aim of this work was to clarify the taxonomy of this complex by combining morphological data, both vegetatve andreproductve, and genetc sequences through the use of rbcL and COI-5P markers. Specimens from Callao, type locality of R. howeanaand R. multdigitata, were molecularly analyzed together with material from the central (Casma to Marcona, 9-15°S) and northern coastof Peru (Piura, 6°S), as well as northern Chile (Coquimbo, 30°S), solving two Rhodymenia groups. A frst phylogenetc group, associatedto R. corallina from Chile (Coquimbo, 30°S), is distributed along the entre Peruvian central coast (Casma to Marcona, 9-15°S), anda second group is restricted to the northern coast of Peru (Piura to Casma, 6-9°S). These groups di?er in characters of external andreproductve morphology. Based on features of the tetrasporangial sori, R. howeana is recognized for northern Peru.